TUI and Thomas Cook fined for breaching code of conduct

TRAVEL companies TUI – who own First Choice and Thomson – and Thomas Cook have been fined for misleading customers travelling to the Canary Islands.

Holidaymakers submitted numerous complaints of ‘inaccurate advertising’ and being placed in resorts that were still under construction.

TUI was fined 48 times during 2015 and 2016 by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).

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Thomas Cook was fined 24 times during the same period.

Both travel agencies were also fined for failing to respond quickly enough to correspondence.

Abta’s code of conduct states customers should be informed about building work in advance, or offered alternative travel arrangements or a full refund if the alternative would mean a significant alteration to their holiday.

Despite these fines, TUI has continued to send travellers to building sites without warning.

In a statement TUI said “We are sorry to hear if a holiday falls short of expectations or is impacted by circumstances, which are sometimes beyond our control. We remain committed to resolving any issue a customer experiences.”